Fall 2023

• Andrew Howard
• Katherine Joshi
• Mike Kolakoski
• Roberto Leon
• Alan Montroso
• Susan Pramschufer
• Sydney Sharpstene
• Sonney Wolfe

Dear Reader –

And so, we begin again with Interpolations, which continues to showcase some of the best writing and most original thinking our exemplary students have to offer. This year’s edition represents, primarily, work composed during the 2022-2023 academic year – a year of transition for the Academic Writing Program that continues into 2023-2024, as we continue to think through what genres of writing will best prepare our students for the critical reading and critical writing so essential to their lives as citizens and humans. This was also a year in which much ink was spilled thinking and writing about various generative AIs and large language models, and how those new technologies would affect how we understand the writing process. While we continue to reckon with these challenges moving forward, this issue of Interpolations continues to showcase the very best of our students’ writing, and will, I hope, be a source of inspiration for you, both in the classroom and outside of it.

This issue of Interpolations sees the publication of six outstanding pieces from our English 101 students. In this issue, you will find Kristen Wood’s succinct and effective summary of Lisa Damour’s article “Why Girls Beat Boys at School and Lose to Them at the Office.” As Damour thinks through and argues for a solution to what she sees as a crisis in education affection young women and girls, Karen Xiao, in her excellent position paper and remediated infographic, argues forcefully for a solution to a different kind of crisis facing all people who menstruate: that of period poverty and the stigma surrounding menstruation, an economic burden Xiao sees as deeply unjust. Indeed, the search for justice is a common theme throughout these excellent pieces. Gerald Markey’s position paper takes a sustained look at race-based admissions in American universities, a topic that once again (and right in the middle of Gerald’s revision process for publication) made headlines through a recent Supreme Court decision. Neeky Vedadi’s position paper looks at animal rights and argues passionately for reforming zoos, both in addressing animals’ physical as well as psychological needs. Finally, in a unique, digital approach to a literature review, Isabella Hofman provides a window into issues of cultural appropriation within the fashion industry.

As we continue to think about what kinds of writing we want and need to see in the world, particularly in a time of upheaval and change with even the ways in which we write, the pieces published in this issue represent a wide and impressive range of thought and style. All of them, though, share a desire to make the world a better place, and an understanding of how we might be able to affect that change through the work of composition, rhetoric, and argument. I am, as ever, blown away by our students’ passion, dedication, and talent.

In closing, I want to thank, as ever, managing editor Scott Eklund, without whom Interpolations would not be possible. His hard work and dedication to this enterprise is awe-inspiring every year. Additionally, my thanks go out to the always-exceptional editorial board, who worked with our students to prepare these pieces for publication: Andrew Howard, Katherine Joshi, Mike Kolakoski, Roberto Leon, Alan Montroso, Susan Pramschufer, Sydney Sharpstene, and Sonney Wolfe. The repeat board members and new board members alike have guided these pieces through extensive revision, and their helpful insights are always invaluable.

-joshua